Researchers have discovered a critical flaw in the backbone of HTTPS-protected traffic, and it is an exploit that has potentially existed for decades. The flaw exists in approximately 36 percent of websites that use HTTPS, and miscreants are able to intercept and modify data passing between a vulnerable browser and a susceptible site. At the moment, OS X and iOS Safari and Chrome are vulnerable to the attack, as are virtually all Android devices ever produced, plus all browsers on Linux.

Unity Technologies has finally brought the fifth version of the company's game engine out of beta as a general release, the company announced at the Game Developer Conference. Originally debuted in March last year and existing in beta for a number of months, Unity 5 offers a number of upgrades over earlier versions, including the ability to render better-looking and more complex scenes with an improved lighting system.

The official SXSW music fest app for iOS and Android, SXSW Go, will tie into a network of 1,000 iBeacons placed around the festival's various venues to help users connect to friends, ensure they are at the right location, and let them know what events are scheduled at the venue they are in now, among other helpful information. Non-attendees can also use the app to view video feeds from various events.

Professional creation apps often feature built-in support for drawing tablets, though many users never get the chance to take advantage of this, due to the high cost of these input accessories. Astro-HQ, a new company formed by two former Apple engineers, is looking to solve this issue with the release of Astropad, a new tool that turns nearly any iPad into a sketch board for any OS X app. Consisting of a free iOS app and a $50 desktop companion, Astropad looks to be a great option for a graphics artist on a tight budget.

Coriolis Systems has unveiled its latest version of iDefrag. Now on version 5, the new software has a revamped user interface to accommodate Yosemite, boasts easier to understand statistics about fragmented drives, better handling of bad drive blocks, new documentation, and enhanced support for Retina displays. The new version is priced at $40 with an upgrade from previous versions available for $20 through the company's web store.

While significantly disagreeing on the shipment or sales numbers of its rivals, analysis firms IDC and Gartner have agreed that Apple surpassed all expectations in a number of areas with its record-shattering calendar Q4 performance, with Gartner awarding Apple the crown of top smartphone seller in the world. An earlier report by IDC had Apple barely missing the top spot, claiming that Samsung shipped 75.1 million units, despite a sharp drop in profits and revenue.

Being the default search engine option in iOS is such an important position that losing it could cost Google around 10 percent of its gross annual revenue, according to a new analysis by investment bank UBS. The advertising giant is at risk to lose upwards of $8 billion if it should lose the default search engine position, a real possibility with the deal between Google and Apple coming up for renewal. Investors are worried that Apple will refuse to renew the arrangement.

Yesterday in the MacNN forums, one Fresh-Faced Recruit was asking other members how they might go about doing a clean install of the OS on a 2010 MacBook Pro that they don't have a system install disc for. A discussion about giving Apps access to contacts was started by Mac Elite "jeff k" earlier this week after he asked about a specific App that was requesting such access.

Today at Apple's online store, find big savings on refurbished Macs with prices as low as $419. The refurbished Mac mini with a 1.4GHz Intel dual-core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and 500GB hard drive has been discounted by $80 to $419. A $130 discount is available on the refurbished 11.6-inch MacBook Air with a 1.4GHz Intel dual-core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, now $769.

Welcome to Daily Deals, the weekday post when the staff of MacNN and Electronista search for discounts and deals on hardware, software, games, gadgets, and other tech for you, our discerning readers. Today, we have a pair of Linksys routers, Sennheiser headphones, and a 27-inch Dell 4K monitor, alongside our recap of yesterday's still-active deals.

Alongside the new Nikon D7200 DSLR shown at the Mobile World Congress yesterday, the imaging company announced the Coolpix P900, a point-and-shoot camera with a 83x optical zoom. The 16MP shooter also includes built-in GPS, and the Nikon Snapbridge technology, allowing users to pair the camera with an iOS or Android device over NFC or Wi-Fi for image sharing and camera control.

PayPal has made two announcements relating to mobile payments at Mobile World Congress, including an acquisition. The company has purchased Paydiant, a startup that provides mobile wallet services to retailers and banks for payments, loyalty cards, and coupons. At the same time, PayPal advises it will be making an updated version of its Here Chip and PIN reader, this time one that works with NFC.

The Republican-run US House Judiciary Committee has sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission head Tom Wheeler, claiming that the new net neutrality ruling is the "most oppressive and backward regulatory option possible," despite a failure to cite any specific evidence of harm. The committee is claiming it will instigate a Congressional Review Act to refute the net neutrality regulations as voted on by the FCC, and also to strip the FCC of its ability to impose Title II regulation on US Internet Service Providers.

Pebble has given backers of its wildly-successful Pebble Time Kickstarter a difficult decision, by adding an alternative device to purchase. Similar to the Pebble Steel compared to the original, the Pebble Time Steel is a metal-clad version of the smartwatch, containing the majority of internal components as the updated wearable device, but with a few slight changes to match the more mature design.

Judge Lucy Koh of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California offered little opinion on a revised settlement, which would end the Silicon Valley worker poaching class-action suit. The $415 million counter-offer is $90 million more than the older deal, and exceeds what the judge asked for to approve the deal. Focusing dissent on what attorneys and a objector asked for individually, Judge Koh has set the next hearing for July 9, which should end the case once and for all.

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Burg announced today the new Burg 31, the first standalone phone and safety smartwatch for kids and senior citizens. The new smartwatch has a Miyota watch movement with traditional analog hands, a GPS tracker, and is a standalone phone to make and receive calls and texts without a tethered smartphone.

When it comes to selecting a printer, it's not exactly something most people put a lot of thought into. Printers are often touted as fragile, fickle devices that break at the drop of the hat - and in our personal experience, most home printers are this way. But what if someone owns a business and is looking to replace their small, slow printer with something a little more substantial? That's the moment the market suddenly becomes quite a bit more intimidating. We're here to help, though, as we offer up our thoughts on the Brother HL-L8250CDN Color Laser Printer, a laser printer that promises to change your opinion about printers as a whole. Did it change ours? Check our review to find out.

It's one year since I was given a premium subscription to Evernote for OS X as a present, it's probably three years since I started using the service and its generous free version. Naturally, when you've used something for a while you get familiar with it and you know it's good and bad points. However, the kind of long-term test that Living With entails feels especially vital with Evernote. At first it feels like a handy note-taking app or convenient syncing service but if that is enough for you to carry on using it, there suddenly comes a moment when it changes. At some point Evernote becomes a ubiquitous part of your working life.

Memory producer SanDisk has set the bar high for mobile device storage, by revealing its first 200GB microSD card. At the same time, the company unveiled two more items for transferring data between computers and devices, including its first USB deive using a Type C connector, and the 128GB iXpand Flash Drive designed for use with the iPhone and iPad.

Although there is an official biography of Steve Jobs, made with Jobs' cooperation before he died in 2011, another tome on the life and thoughts of the mercurial Apple co-founder will be published later this month, titled Becoming Steve Jobs. The book is noteworthy due to Jobs' posthumous involvement, along with new interviews with Jobs' family, Apple CEO Tim Cook, design chief Sir Jonathan Ive, and former Apple and Pixar colleagues galore.

As the publicity machine shifts into high gear in preparation for the public debut of the Apple Watch on March 9, new details and additional features, applications and other bits of information are making their way into the press. The codename for the project, for example, was "Gizmo," reports The New York Times. Among other revelations are the role that former Adobe Flash chief Kevin Lynch played, power-saving and style details, and the news that the watch will also launch abroad in its first month.

Epic Games is making it easier for would-be developers to gain access to its powerful Unreal Engine 4 software, by getting rid of the monthly subscription. Previously costing $19 per month per user, Epic has removed the charge entirely, allowing anyone with an interest to register, download, and use the game engine in the production of their own games and apps.

Recently, staff writer and long-time Windows user Malcolm Owen returned to the Mac following a five-year absence. Back to the Mac is a series of posts where he charts his progress in introducing Apple to his computing environment again. In this installment, Malcolm recounts his first full working week with on the Mac mini.

Switching between two different ways of using an item or working can be tough to do. Long-established patterns are difficult to break, and altering the way you navigate a computer in the short term could, for people resistant to change, be akin to giving up an addiction. I hate change.

At yesterday's keynote to the Mobile World Congress, alongside the Galaxy S6 family of phones, Samsung revealed Samsung Pay, a competitor to the Apple Pay service. Not much was said about the new offering, derived almost entirely from the recent purchase of LoopPay -- but more information has come to light, including why Samsung noted in press materials that the phone could be remotely wiped to secure Samsung Pay information if lost.

A little over a week after the second developer beta of OS X 10.10.3, which includes the first public peek at the forthcoming Photos app, Apple has made a new version public for pre-registered beta testers. Build 14D87p is the first public beta of 10.10.3, and includes the Photos app for public testing for the first time (developers had been able to to use the application in the previous two betas). The public version appears to be identical to the second developer beta, numbered 14D87h.

Welcome to Daily Deals, the post where we scour online retailers to find discounts and offers on gadgets, hardware, games, and other items for you, the discerning MacNN and Electronista reader. Since it is the start of a new week, we have wiped the slate clean, with the new collection of deals including a Fujifilm 16MP compact camera, a 6TB Seagate desktop hard drive for $200, and a 24-inch Viewsonic monitor.